By the time you've finished Factorio, the world is a very different place. Countless industrial units, rail networks, and manufacturing plants are strewn across your planet's surface, a far cry from the peaceful world you once knew. The minerals, trains, and myriad factories make up a painting even Jackson Pollock would envy, but you leave it all behind in the end. The spaceship you've been working towards finally sets off. Four years later, the new Factorio Space Age DLC opens the lid on what happened next.
management game has been expanded to a galactic scale, and your istrative skills need to be up to the task. Space platforms can now take your resources between planets, so you need to start thinking much bigger. This is an exhaustive and far-reaching change, as your decision-making takes on a more cosmic burden.
If you're feeling up to the challenge, there are a lot of new features to explore. The aforementioned space platforms act as flying factories, and you'll need to use them to ferry resources between planets. You can build defenses to shoot down incoming asteroids, catch space chunks to break them down into fuel and ammo, and shuttle your cargo between planets.
Of course, you need actual planets to move resources between. That's why Factorio Space Age features four new worlds, each with its own unique challenges and rewards. There are the volcanic mountains of Vulcanus, the long-dead civilization of Fulgora, the humid marshlands of Gleba, and the howling winds of the frozen Aquilo. There's even a secretive fifth planet, which is the farthest from the sun and shrouded in mystery. Each planet hides its resources, so you need to ensure your interstellar factories are constantly pumping out the goods.
Alongside all the resources, Space Age introduces a new quality scale. All your machines, equipment, and items can have one of five qualities, with each level offering greater bonuses. The higher the quality the better, as your machines work faster, equipment is more powerful, and so on. To get better quality goods you need to research the all-new quality modules, and in doing so your automation can soar to new heights.
By far my favorite addition, Factorio now has elevated rails – you can build hulking bridge structures to your rail networks. That means multi-level intersections, crossing oceans, and easily getting your goods from point A to B. If you've got an old base with no way around it, simply build an elevated rail and go right over. Infrastructure has never been easier.
Factorio Space Age is available now. It'll cost you $35 / £30 for the DLC. You can find it here.
Factorio Space Age isn't the only game to get your logistics fix. There are also plenty of the sandbox games to try that offer similar, automated experiences.
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